Just so we're clear, Mark Watney is who I want to be. He has all the qualities I like about myself magnified without any of the qualities I dislike. Mark Watney isn't afraid to fly.

If the reader is rooting for the protagonist, they'll forgive you just about everything else.

Hell yeah I'm a botanist! Fear my botany powers!

It's all too clear we're on our own.

If someone offered me a free trip to the International Space Station, I would decline. I like Earth. I like the internet. I like Diet Coke. I have cats. I write about brave people - I'm not one of them.

What I loved about myself as a teenager is that I didn't know any better to be afraid or to be insecure.